Method of lubricating bearings.



J. E. CRAVEN. METHOD OF LUBRIGATING BEARINGS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5, 1910.

Patented May 7, I912.

V v WITNESSES ITED STATES PATENT cemen- JAMES F." cRav'nN, orrITrsBUReH.PENNSYLVANIA. assleNoit 'ro'oRAv E'N ENGI- NEER-ING COMPANY, orPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION -or IPENN- SYLVANIA.

,To'. all 107mm it'may'c onca-rni it known that- I, James F;- Gaussafreside'nt of .Pittsbur 11, int 1e county of Allegheny and State QPennsylvania, have inrented anew and useful Improvement in Methods ofLubrrcatlng Bearings, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the inve'ntionis to provide the necessary su )ply oflubricant in a nian ner which absolutely pret'ents any dirt, dust orgrit entering the bearings with-thelubrican't, or, .inother words,preventing the 15,

' portation, handling: or storage. or in sup-l lubricant itself, ,in anystage of its transplying the same to the bearing, from coming puttingthe" lubricant up; 'Fig. -2"-is. a'sec'w in contact witl dirt or grit. I1

The invention comprises the process steps for supplying the lubricantscribed and claimed.

- In the accompanying draw'ing, 'F igur e 1' is a sectional view showingone manner of tiona. .view through a suitable grease "cup for receivingthe package of lubricant; and F1 3 15B s1m1lar'y1ew'show1ng the man-.

' are in which th lubr'icantfis 'forcedpout of the package or.container. r ,7

' 0! The invention is intended, primarily, for" 'supp'lying.thickdubricants in the. form, of grease,althoughit is to some! extentap;

I pl'icable 'to' supplying thinnerhlubricants,

such asoils. Greases are usually supplied to bearings'by means. ofgreasecups. Greases are usually put up in cans or other largereceptacles, .or, infthecase of fairly solid greases, they are put up. nthe form rOf small cylinders 'orcandles. The latter accumulate more orless dirt, soth'at when placed in the grease cup, this'idir'tis :fedintothe hearing.

Whenput up in cans or other large recep- 'tacles, thegrease must be putinto the cup some crudenianner, which. generally re-. sults'. in moreorless dlrt or dustentering with'the grease, The consequence 1s ihatthebearings-are unnecessarily worn on account ot'the dirt and dust enteringwith the grease. According to my invention, the gre'ase or dtherlubricant. indicated at 1 is put 'up at the; factory in small packagessuitable for 3 entering .the grease .cup' without breaking ----the-same,by being'inclosed in a suitable.

container .2,,which, infthe jform shown in Figs.';1'.to' 3, may. be ofany substance ca.

Spedification of Letters Patent I Application filed February F; '1910.Seriallho; 542,290.

u I hereinafter de-- METHOD or LiIBRIcATINe renames; y

'Palt ateatia'w,1912..

pable of being collapsed and ruptured.

With finost greases, a suitable container can be for 1e from paper orother uitable Inaterial or from thin' lead' foil or t 1e like, such asi's-usuallyuse'd for tubes to contain ar'tists 'paints and'wa-riousother substances; This container may be provided in it's bottom withasrnall opening, or'it is merely weak ened lll'lts' bottom, asindicatediat 3,by niak--' mg that portion of the container thinner thanthe other portions. Tle container 'as.

a whole,'is capa le of being collapsed and [squeezed down to force outof the samethe grease -rcont'ained therein, are sealed 'at the factory;so that it is impossible for the grease to' collect or accumulateThesecontainers "L 1 7O duster-dirt. The containers will be made"- ofsuch size as to greasecups.

In use, the containers are inserted into a 'suitable grease'cup,---suchas indicated at 4,

fit into standard 'sizesof which 'is proyided in its bottom with an Iope ing 5. for supplying 'the lubnicantnto the caring. In the cup is asuitable plunger I 6', .by means of which pressure can be ex e'nted oiitliecontainer' in' order to com ress aridcollapsethe same to cause thelubricant to "upture the bottom at the weakened part S'andform anopening through which the grease escapes and flows to the bearings Thevplunger 6 niay-be actuated by anyfsuitable means, thedr-awings showingsaidpLunger externally threaded and engaging internal threads in the cupcreasing, sothat by 10- tating the plunger 6 it is caused to traveldownwardly to exert the necessary pressure to rupture the, containergrease, into the bearing. I

Various means for rotating the plunger may be employed. thedrawingsshowing a, cap 7 rotatably niounted onthe casing and heldagai-nStIaccidental lifting by means of spring 8 engaging the annulargroove 9 in Projecting down, ardly from the cap is a and force the" theouter face of the casing near ,its top..

11 through which extend radial projections 12 on the plunger or piston,said projections being externally threaded to engage the threads on theinterior of the casing.

The particular grease cup illustrated is --one which is'iIlustrated,described and claimed in an application of even date he're-v with,Serial No. 542,289, and is only one-of various forms'ofgrease cups whlchmay be used in connection with the grease put' up the bearing with theweak portion'of the 6.0" 1 in containers, and adapted to carry intoefcontainer alined with the passage, a plying fect my method. pressureto said containerand there rup- The' container for grease may be, ifdetnring the weak' portion, and then orcin'g; 5 sired, formed of paperor other collapsible the lubricant out of the container. and into,

material which is capable of' being 'rupthe bearing. Y 65" tured orbroken. when pressure 1s exerted 3. The method 'of supplying a lubricantthereon, or if desired, the opening may be to bearings consisting ininclosing the lubriformed by the removal of a cap, before incant in aclosed, collapsible container having serting into the cup. Thethinmetalfoil, a weak portion, connecting said container however, ispreferred, as it presents a smooth to the bearing to feed directlythereinto, and 70. outer surface, which does not accumulate thenapplying'pressure to said container ands dirt and which, ,in any event,can be easily, thereby rupturing the same and forcing'th wiped offbefore inserting into the cup. lubricant out of the same and into the Mymethod of putting up and supplying bearing.

the lubricant absolutely prevents .any dirt, 4. The method of applying alubricantto 75 dust or grit getting into the bearings withbearingsconsisting in inclosing the lubricant the lubricant. It alsoprevents waste of luin a closed, collapsible "container or wrapperbricant, which occurs when grease 'is taken having an exter or surfacefree of projec from a large can or receptacle to. be supplied tionsorzcrevices, inserting the same in' a cup to the cup.. The lattermethodalso smears or chamber havinga lubricating passage'80' up the cup andbearing, either rendering leading therefrom to the bearing, then apthemunsightly or making it necessary to plying pressure on said containerto: form clean the same, and also making it imposan opening from thecontainer into the passible to handlethe cup without soiling the sageand to collapse the container and force hands. 1 the lubricant out ofthe same into the bear- 35 According to my invention, the grease is ing.'closed in a sealed container, and therefore 5. The methodof supplying alubricant can be handled without soiling the hands t bearings,conslst-lng in mclosing the luand without getting grease smeared'overthe bricant in a sealed container or wrapper.

cup and other parts. In squeezing the'grease having a surface "so smoothas to prevent-the 90 out of the container, the latter is collapsed,lodgment of foreign matter thereon, said and when used in a grease cupas shown, the container being formed, of material capable containerexpands in the, tube 10, so that of being collapsed and ruptured whenpreswhen the latter is withdrawn to allow a new sure is'appliedthereominserting the 'said container to be put in the cup, the oldcontainer in a cup or chamber having a lu- 95 crushed container comesout with the tube. bricating passage leading. therefrom to-the The newcontainer is preferably inserted in bearing, and then applying pressureon said the tube 10,'and thelatter with the container container to openit at the passage and 40 is then put into the cup. This, however, isthereby rupturing the same and forcmgthe not necessary, as the containercan be placed lubricant out of the same and into the bear 100 'in thecup itself, and the tube 10 and cap ing. 4 then inserted. 6. The methodof supplying a lubricantto" What I claim is bearings, consisting ininclosing the lubri -1. The method of supplying a lubricant cant in anon-porous collapsible container to bearings consisting .in inclosingthe lubriprovided with a weak portion, inserting said 195' cant in aclosed container having a weak porcontainer in a chamber provided with aT tion, inserting said container in a chamber passage leading to thebearing, and then. provided with a passage leading to the bearapply ngpressure on said container and ing, applying pressure to said containerand thereby rupturmg the weak portion, collaps-,

. thereby rupturing the weak portion, and ing the same, ahdforcing thelubricant out 110 then forcing the lubricant out of the conof the sameand into the bearing.

tainer and into the hearing. I In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set2. The method of supplying a lubricant my hand. to bearings consistingin inclosing the lubri- JAMES! CR AVEN' cant in a closed containerhaving a weak portion, and a smooth exterior surface \Vitnesses:

throughout, inserting said container in a F. WV1NTERs, chamber providedwith a passage leading to JAs. L. \VnLDoN.

